Monday, June 04, 2007

Mondays with Maida - Cracker-Barrel Raisin Cookies

Just out of the oven, these cookies had a nice little crunch on the outside and were soft on the inside, but a day later that nice contrast of textures had disappeared and what was left was a dryish, soft cookie. Happily, lots and lots of soft raisins add moisture and chewiness to what otherwise might have been a rather unremarkable cookie.

There are two ways to shape these cookies. Since this is the "Hand-Formed Cookies" chapter, I went with the first method: chill the dough, roll it into balls, then make crisscross markings with a fork. However, if I were to make these again, I think I'd use the alternate method - drop the dough (without chilling it), then press with a fork. This second method would certainly save time and having seen the results of the first method, I don't think the extra effort is necessary.

Here's the panel...

Suzanne: "Cathy tried in vain to pick out the cookie with the least amount of raisins for me since she knows I’m not a raisin fan. I do like raisins if they aren’t cooked. I think I’ve figured out why I don’t like raisins in cookie. Somehow they loose their sweetness and become bitter tasting. Even though I like a crunchier cookie, I didn’t mind the soft texture of this cookie. Rating - 2.0"

Laura: "Moist and yummy cookies. Very plump raisins, with a hint of lemon in the cookie. Rating - 3.5"

Denny: "These were OK. Not crunchy enough for me, raisins were a little too plump for my taste. That suggests to me that someone might even really like these a lot, just not me. Minus one for lack of chocolate, so I rate them a 2.0. Rating - 2.0"

Terri: "These cookies are definitely for raisin lovers! Each cookie has about 6 raisins and they remind me of a raisin bran muffin. I like the slight lemony taste - they may be a bit dry, but very tasty with morning coffee! Rating - 3.0"

5 comments:

Someday, Cathy, you should tell Denny that there was chocolate in the cookie even if there wasn't. Those cookies look great. Do you know the origin of "Cracker Barrel"? I don't. I see it here and there and feel a little silly that I've never bothered to figure it out...

Hi Mari! I'm not sure he'd be easily fooled, but it might be worth a shot :)

You know, I hunted around last week to try and find some background on that without much luck. Most references to that phrase refer to the restaurant, and I'm sure there were cracker barrels long before there was a Cracker Barrel restaurant.

About Me

My name is Cathy and I live in a Maryland suburb of Washington DC in the USA. I love to cook, but have had a tendency to do it strictly by the book. I love to eat too, but have an unfortunately long list of dislikes. It's time for a change.